


Don’t Leave Me

by everydayistuesday



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 15x20 never happened, F/M, Fix-it fic, M/M, One-Shot, dean and cas are in love, dean rescues cas like he’s supposed to, human!cas for all of a paragraph, there is some angst tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:35:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27646937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everydayistuesday/pseuds/everydayistuesday
Summary: Cas tells Dean that he loves him. Dean refuses to let that be the end. Or alternatively, fuck 15x20.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester (mentioned)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 78





	Don’t Leave Me

**Author's Note:**

> We all know how Supernatural really ended, and it wasn’t whatever 15x20 was. It was Dean pulling Cas out of the Empty and the two of them being in love. While we’re waiting on J2M making a fanfilm to put on YouTube with the real ending, take this.

“Why does this sound like a goodbye?” 

  
_ Don’t leave me, don’t leave me don’t leave me- _

“Because it is.” Cas’ smile is radiant. He’s happier than Dean has ever seen him, and it’s wrong, it’s all wrong, Cas shouldn’t be this happy sacrificing himself. 

Dean is so caught up in how wrong it all is that he almost misses Cas’ next words. 

“I love you.” 

The world stops. 

Cas- Cas  _ loves  _ him. Is that possible? Do angels love like that? Does Cas mean it like that? 

The look in his eyes tells him enough. Yes.  _ I love you _ . 

Dean vaguely wonders if Cas has loved him as long as he’s loved Cas. 

  
He’s jerked back to the present. When Dean froze, the world didn’t stop like he had thought it did. 

He turns to see the black nothingness of the Empty congregating against the wall behind him. There’s no time.

“Don’t do this,” Dean asks weakly. Everything is moving too quickly, he just needs a minute to figure out how to tell Cas that-

“Goodbye, Dean.” The way Cas says it is final. When he pushes Dean to the side, that is final too. 

  
It’s far too final when the black tendrils reach from the wall and wrap around Cas. 

Dean watches as Cas is dragged into the Empty. 

Everything is suddenly quiet, and that’s the last thing Dean wants. 

The door of the dungeon is ajar, which means that at some point, Billie had come in, and the Empty had taken her. Dean didn’t notice. Even now, he only half notices. The only things that seem to be registering are the silence and the words ringing in his ears. 

_ I love you _ .

The tears come, and Dean doesn’t bother trying to stop them. He doesn’t bother answering when Sam calls. He doesn’t bother moving, except to chuck his phone at the brick wall Cas disappeared through and put his head in his hands while he sobs. 

Cas is dea-  _ no _ , just  _ gone _ , Cas is  _ gone _ . Gone means he can be brought back. 

  
A small voice in the back of Dean’s head tells him that Cas wouldn’t be gone if Dean hadn’t decided to go after Billie. He believes it. 

_ I’m sorry, Cas, I’m sorry. This is my fault. If- dammit, I’m going to get you back. I swear. I’m coming for you.  _

Dean doesn’t realize that he’s praying until his next words are out.

_ I love you too _ .

_ I’m coming.  _

__

_ Just hang in there, Cas. _

* * *

It’s hours before Dean stands up. Hours before he leaves the dungeon. 

His phone is broken, so he doesn’t call back Sam. Even if he could, he doesn’t know what he would say. 

He pulls a book off of one of the shelves in their library. Then another. And a dozen more. Dean piles them on one of the tables and sits. He opens the first book. 

Sam tries to get out of him what happened to Cas. Dean refuses to talk. 

Jack doesn’t ask. Without a word, he grabs the next book on the pile. 

“Thanks, kid,” Dean manages. 

  
Jack looks away. He blames himself, Dean can tell. 

It’s not Jack’s fault. It’s Dean’s. 

Dean doesn’t tell him that. Instead, he keeps reading. 

* * *

Every night, Dean prays to Cas. Every night, he promises that he’s coming. Every night, he tells Cas that he loves him. Every night, despite knowing it won’t happen, Dean listens for the rustle of his angel’s wings.

It never comes. There is never a reply. 

He doesn’t see Sam standing in his doorway, watching somberly. 

* * *

While Dean pours through the tomes in the bunker, Sam focuses on trying to defeat Chuck. Jack helps both of them. 

Sam and Jack find a way to get rid of Chuck before they find a way to save Cas. 

_ I love you _ . 

Dean can still hear him. 

_ Why does this sound like a goodbye? _

__

_ Because it is.  _

__

_ I love you.  _

__

_ Don’t do this. _

__

_ Goodbye, Dean. _

He isn’t giving up. 

  
Chuck can wait. 

* * *

Jack absorbs Chuck’s power, rendering Chuck human. 

Dean can’t even bring himself to be happy when they drive off in the Impala, leaving Chuck groveling in the dust. When they get back to the bunker, he goes straight to the library. 

That day, he finds what he’s looking for. 

For the first time since before Cas left, Dean smiles. 

* * *

Dean is the only one to go to the Empty. Sam had offered to come, but if things go wrong, he’s not letting Sam be there. He knows what it’s like to lose someone you love. 

Right before Jack zaps him there, Eileen signs a  _ thank you _ towards him. 

Dean nods in acknowledgement. 

Even if this doesn’t work-  _ it has to work, I have to find Cas _ \- he’s glad Sam and Eileen will have each other. He sees how they look at each other. 

It’s how he looked at Cas, and how he’s going to look at him again if-  _ when _ he saves him. 

“Good luck,” Jack says, and then Dean is in the Empty.

He can feel the regret and the nothingness, but he can also feel Cas. 

_ He’s here. He’s here, he’s here, he’s here- _

Dean calls his name again and again. 

“Cas! Castiel! Cas?”

_ I’m here, Cas. C’mon, you’ve gotta wake up, I’m here. _

Dean calls his name until it hurts to yell. He calls his name even after that. 

He calls his name until the black nothingness rises up into the shape of a sleeping man in a trench coat. 

_ Cas.  _

Dean doesn’t waste time staring, even though Cas is the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen, even though time seems to stop. He drops down next to the angel and shakes him, fisting his trench coat. 

_ It’s really Cas. _

“Cas?” he whispers when blue eyes open. 

Cas blinks a few times when he sees Dean. “What… what are you doing here?” he asks unsurely.

When Dean hears his voice, he wants to cry. He didn’t know if he’d ever hear it again.

Cas continues, “I made a deal-“

  
“You made a stupid deal, and I broke it,” Dean says, wrapping him in a tight embrace. His voice is thick, but he doesn’t care. He only cares that it’s  _ Cas _ , and Cas is  _ here _ . “Don’t ever do that again. Don’t-“ 

_ Don’t leave me.  _

“I did it to protect you, Dean, and I do not regret it,” Cas says. “I wish that I could have stayed, but I don’t regret it.”

The hair on the back of Dean’s neck stands up- they’re not alone anymore. Someone- something- is watching.

Cas feels the shift in the air too. He pulls away.

“You have to go,” he says urgently. “You have to go now before the Empty finds you. It knows you’re here.” 

“Then come on,” Dean says. 

“What?” 

  
“Come on,” Dean repeats. “I’m not leaving without you, Cas. Why’d you think I came?”

Cas just stares at him. “You came back for me?”

“Of course I did. You’re family- more than family, Cas, I-“

_ I love you I love you I love you I- _

__

“I love you too, you sonofabitch.” Dean leans in and captures Cas’ lips with his own. “Did you really think it was one sided?” 

  
Cas doesn’t answer. His eyes meet Dean’s for a moment, then he leans back in. 

Somehow, their second kiss is better than their first, and their first was pretty damn good. Their third is better than their second, and their fourth is better than their third, and they are lost in each other until Dean pulls away and says, “Let’s go home, and then we can do this is a bed. Sound good?” 

Cas’ smile is radiant. “That sounds better than good.”

They go home. 

* * *

After they are home, Cas cuts out his grace and becomes human. He tells Dean that he wants to grow old with him. 

Dean doesn’t stop smiling for the rest of the week. 

They watch movies together and go out on dates. Eventually, Dean buys Cas a ring and proposes. Cas says yes. They curl up, Cas in Dean’s arms when they fall asleep. 

Dean doesn’t tell Cas, but he still worries that when he wakes up, Cas will be gone, dragged back to the Empty.

Dean gets his first grey hair and Cas teases him about it mercilessly. Sam and Eileen invite them over for dinner every week. Every Christmas, Dean puts a photograph of Cas on top of their tree, regardless of Cas’ protests. They take long drives in the Impala and even when he drives, Dean lets Cas choose the music.

“I love you,” Cas says everyday. 

“Love you too,” Dean replies, then kisses him. 

Cas doesn’t leave again.

They are happy.


End file.
